Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Speaker Boehner Threatens Democrats on Debt Ceiling from a Position of Weakness

Only three of the 12 annual spending bills have even been debated — by far the worst record since the GOP took over the House.

Now the worthless Republican House with its inept and weak Speaker is trying to threaten the White House that they will not pass a budget ceiling increase without spending cuts. What does Boehner think the Sequestration is which BTW is hurting our military readiness which the GOP House doesn't seem to care about. Their austerity plan which includes sequestration is not working and hasn't worked from Day One. Raise taxes a little and see how fast everything turns around. Republicans in Congress voted for every debt ceiling of Bush, but now with a Democrat, black President they want to threaten what they are going to do instead of what is best for the Country.

Are Republicans prepared to shut down the Government? After the debacle in the 90's you would think they would have learned, but today's Republicans are as stubborn as you can get and will cut off their nose to spite their face. Obama's words "Please Proceed" to Romney during the debate keep resonating when I think of the GOP House. House Republicans are truly are on a path of destruction that is going to leave them asking what they did wrong because they don't seem to be able to take responsibility for anything.

Rebranding is an abject failure in the Republican Party and no where is there a better example then the Republicans in the House of Representatives with their threats and attacks almost on a daily basis. The hypocrites must have gotten their talking points from the Koch Bros and their various organizations to give them a backbone to stand up against the debt ceiling.

Believe the Koch's and other wealthy GOP donors are on the losing side when it is all said and done because the vast majority of the American people are on to their trying to tank this Country, We are determined to defeat them and their wealthy friends who put greed ahead of what is best for the Country. A good start will be throwing out the Republican obstructionist who keep threatening the President's agenda and what is good for the Country.

If Nancy Pelosi becomes Speaker again in January 2015, will Boehner if re-elected quit? I don't think he can handle Pelosi as Speaker and frankly the Tea Party group he has played up to in the House will take him out as Minority Leader in a nano second. Time for Boehner to retire like yesterday. The Country deserves better then a Speaker who keeps making threats:

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Tuesday that the House would not vote to raise the debt ceiling without spending cuts, setting up a potential fight with President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats.

"We're not going to raise the debt ceiling without real cuts in spending. It's as simple as that," he said at a press conference.

"I believe the so-called Boehner Rule is the right formula for getting that done," he said, referring to the notion that any increase in the statutory debt limit should be accompanied by an equivalent amount of spending cuts.

The White House has insisted that President Barack Obama will not negotiate over the debt limit, which until 2011 both parties in Congress had raised without linking it to spending cuts. In 2011, House Republicans used the threat of the looming debt limit to negotiate the package of spending cuts known as sequestration. In January, the House voted to suspend the debt limit until May without concessions.

UPDATE: 4:00 p.m. -- Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) rejected the idea on Tuesday. "We are not negotiating on the debt ceiling," he said. "I don't know how many more times we need to say that."

Beginning to really like this new version of Harry Reid who is not afraid to stand up and be counted. When he negotiated the filibuster deal with Senator McCain, it showed the wrong Republican was in charge of the Senate. McConnell who cannot keep his word should be ousted from his Senate seat in Kentucky. Been in the Senate so long he forgets what it is like to be a Senator of all constituents just not hard right Republicans and the wealthy GOP donors.

Speaker Boehner left himself wide open when he said on Sunday that Congress “should not be judged on how many laws we create” but “on how many laws we repeal.” That was an idiotic statement to make which I have never heard in all my years around politics.

One thing Republicans in Congress are good at is wasting tax dollars. Spending $3M of taxpayer dollars to defend DOMA before the Supreme Court or $40M+ to repeal Obamacare is a waste of tax dollars which could be put to good use. Having to pass a Farm Bill without SNAP is more waste of our tax dollars as the House Farm Bill is doomed in the Senate without SNAP. Never saw a House who passed more bills knowing they are going nowhere but the trash can then the Boehner/Cantor GOP House. Republicans are not fit to lead in the House the way they act.

Knew it was only a matter of time before Major Leader Reid had a field day with the Boehner comments on Sunday. I was not disappointed with his response above.

Responding to Speaker John Boehner’s comment on Sunday that Congress “should not be judged on how many laws we create” but “on how many laws we repeal,” Reid said Boehner and his leadership team aren’t even making headway on repealing laws, despite taking dozens of votes to roll back President Barack Obama’s health care law.

“House Republicans are failing even by their own metric. They’ve replaced virtually nothing. So by the speaker’s own admission, they’re not getting anything passed and by his own analysis, they’re getting nothing repealed,” Reid said. “So they’re doing nothing.”

The latest from the media is that the Republican budget strategy in Congress is starting to unravel which should not be a shock to anyone as the head of the House Budget Committee Paul Ryan is all talk and little substance. Because he talks a good game, the media swallowed what he said hook, line, and sinker when he was running for Vice President, but now are taking a closer look to find that just maybe Ryan and the truth are not friends as we are seeing with the budget. Maybe the budget guru of the Republican House isn't such a guru after all.

The central premise, as sold by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, was that Washington could wipe out deficits in 10 years and protect defense spending, all while embracing the lower appropriations caps dictated by sequestration.

Four months later, it’s proving to be a bridge too far.

Only three of the 12 annual spending bills have even been debated — by far the worst record since the GOP took over the House. (my bold)

Against their better judgment, Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee have been required to cut important investments in science, community development and foreign aid. Senate Republicans are peeling off in protest — setting up a crucial procedural vote at noon Tuesday on the transportation and housing budget.

Time is running short.

After the August recess just nine legislative days remain on the House calendar before the next shutdown crisis Oct. 1. Already there are discussions of retreating into a stopgap continuing resolution calibrated to the post-sequester appropriations level of $988 billion.

But this begs the question: Is the CR a bridge to a larger deal or just another ramp down to the “new normal” of sequestration that President Barack Obama, for one, will find hard to accept?

The month of August the Congress goes on recess and only has nine days remaining before the end of the fiscal year when they return. The House Budget Guru Ryan only has three annual spending bills that have been debated so far out of 12 spending bills that encompass government agencies. It is a travesty that the do nothing, 3-day work week Republicans have only debated three spending bills and one of them, the Farm Bill, had to have SNAP removed in order to pass. This 3-day work week is an affront to the US Taxpayers. I think that they should only get 3/5ths of their salary since they only work three days. Nine days left in the fiscal year in September to pass the budget bills? Not happening.

Years ago the date of the fiscal year was moved from 1 July to 1 October with a three-month transition period the first year. It was done so Congress could get a budget passed and appropriated in an efficient manner. Since the Republicans have been mostly in charge since 1994, it has been a joke as the House gets farther behind each year and we have more continuing resolutions. Still cannot get over the GOP House passes bills without Democrat support knowing full well they are going nowhere. What kind of leadership is that? Pretty bad and way below the standards of what the American taxpayers deserve.

Now the GOP is sending their House Members back to their districts for August with their blueprint of what they are to say to their constituents. Instead of being honest they are now all going to be talking from the same talking points paper. Republicans think that is going to get them support from the middle of the road constituents - not happening. Only the hard right Tea Party types will be happy with their obstructionists tactics. GOP should have learned in the Presidential election when Romney lost big that going hard right was not a prescription for winning. Obvious they still don't get it that they have a lot of disgruntled Republicans and former Republicans who will do everything they can to defeat them.

The 31-page document from the House Republican Conference, first reported by Roll Call, offers instructions to members for meeting with constituents, promoting the House GOP's agenda and garnering media attention. The document suggests many ways to gain visibility, including placing an op-ed (sample provided) in a local paper, running a health care forum for millennials and touring gas stations, grocery stores, hospitals and senior centers.

"We know that Washington is broken," writes Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), chair of the House Republican Conference, in the guide. "It spends too much, borrows too much, and takes too much. It targets people for what they believe. It chokes out jobs with more red tape, blocks new energy resources and makes our health care crisis worse. Our government is out of control."

The guide suggests that Republicans hold private "meetups" with "women, Asian-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and milennials [sic]." (African Americans are not mentioned.) "A meetup event should be closed [to] press so everyone feels comfortable to candidly speak about the issues," it says. Before and after, however, the document encourages promoting the event to the media.

The nerve of the House GOP to talk about Washington being broken when they are one of the primary causes with their obstructionists tactics and refusing to work with Democrats for the good of the Country. Today's House Republicans seem bent on destroying this Country with their 'my way or no way' hard right attitude. We need to keep reminding voters that today's Republicans cannot be trusted as they will say or do anything to get re-elected.

How many women want to meet with a Republican today after how they treat women with their being against Equal Pay for Women, Violence Against Women Act, Against Paid Birth Control, and for horrendous anti-abortion bills which get between a woman and her doctor. My guess is not many. Wonder if you have to check your cell phones at the door of these meet-ups since they are closed to the media. It is duly noted that McMorrisRogers didn't bother to include blacks in these meet-up instructions which show the hard right Republican Party is about rhetoric not real change.

New polling is starting to show how Republican voters have doubts about the GOP progress on issues. That is probably the understatement of the year. A lot of longtime Republicans don't trust the new hard right Republican Party and are pledged to helping Democrats win in 2014. We are the problem the GOP wanted to go away since we wouldn't march in lockstep with the hard right and raised questions about going too hard right. Now we are a bigger problem for them by supporting Democrats with all of our background and knowledge of how the GOP works in campaigns. The GOP needs to be defeated soundly in 2014 for their obstructionists tactics and some of the laws passed in the states that are draconian which has driven the old base father from the GOP.

1 comment:

I don't like being nasty (oh heck, who am I kidding, I enjoy being nasty) but...it appears to me that Boehner is about as functional and viable as Speaker as my toy poodle is as a guard dog. No, wait, Rums is more viable because at least he has a really annoying yap, and usually only barks at something that is prowling around outside and at thunder. Sure, he thinks he's a junk yard dog, but he's just an eight pound poodle who has an annoying yap and no bite. The cats are bigger and badder than he is. At least he has a very viable relationship with Mommy Cat (even if she is a different species) and appears not to need Viagra even though he has been 'fixed'. Yep, I guess that does describe what's going on with the leadership of the GOP.